WASHINGTON — Corey Kispert and the Washington Wizards have reached an agreement on a four-year, $54 million contract extension, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Monday. ESPN was first to report the news.
The contract will include a team option for the fourth season — the 2028-29 season — The Athletic learned from a league source.
The two sides reached their agreement approximately 75 minutes before the 6 p.m. ET deadline for teams to reach rookie-scale contract extensions with first-round picks from the 2021 draft class.
Kispert, a 25-year-old swingman, has been one of the draft class’ success stories.
Selected 15th overall out of Gonzaga during Tommy Sheppard’s tenure as general manager, Kispert has fulfilled his potential as one of the league’s better young shooters, having made 42.4 percent of his 3s during the 2022-23 season and 38.3 percent of his 3s last season.
Kispert improved at attacking closeouts last season, putting the ball on the floor more often and making 76 percent of his attempts at the rim, according to the advanced analytics database Cleaning the Glass. That’s an elite percentage for a wing.
Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins didn’t draft Kispert, but they’ve come to admire Kispert’s professionalism, durability and shooting skill.
Team officials believe Kispert will continue to shore up his defense, which is the weakest area of his game. This is the second October in a row Winger and Dawkins reached a rookie-scale extension with a Wizards prospect.
Last year, Washington and wing/forward Deni Avdija agreed to a four-year, $55 million extension. Avdija was traded this past offseason, going to Portland for the draft rights to Bub Carrington, a 2029 first-round pick, a pair of future second-round picks and veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon.
(Photo: Reggie Hildred / USA Today)
